Penny Saga 2: Penny WeatherWise
by The EmiLily
Summary: Penny gets trapped in a monstrous snowstorm...does she survive?


PENNY WEATHERWISE

It was the last period of the day at Metro City Junior High School where Penny was enrolled in eighth grade. Right now she was in Algebra class with her teacher Mr. Brindle. In five minutes the students would be free for another afternoon of fun, and Penny couldn't wait. Her Uncle, the great Inspector Gadget, was picking up his assistant, Corporal Capeman from Secret Agent School and wouldn't be back for a few days. That meant that Penny had the whole house to herself.

She had her whole day planned out when she got home. She would get a bag of microwave popcorn and her favorite video, "GoldenEye", and settle down in front of the TV to watch it. Then, she would have some cheese pizza delivered from her favorite pizza parlor and eat it while watching the news. After supper she would watch the sitcoms on television and go to bed. 

A loud, jarring bell shook Penny free of her reverie and she picked up her bag and walked through the classroom door. She got on the bus and in fifteen minutes she was unlocking her door with her house key. Once she entered her house she flipped on the radio, which was broadcast throughout the house on speakers in each room. While she was rummaging through her video collection to locate "GoldenEye" she heard the announcer mention a chance of rain the next day. 

"Oh, well," Penny thought. "I guess I'll have to bring my umbrella to school tomorrow!"

Penny found the video fairly quickly and brought it into the TV room. While the coming attractions were playing, Penny went into the kitchen and popped a bag of Pop Secret(r) popcorn and brought it back to the TV room. She got nice and cozy on the couch, took her golden orange hair out of a ponytail and lay back on the pillow. She let the action begin.

It seemed as if it had only been a half an hour when the movie ended. Penny forced herself up from the couch and put her hair into two ponytails. She called up Dominos(c) Pizza and ordered a half cheese-half pepperoni pizza and a bottle of soda. She hung up and went into her room to get the money she would need. She came back and placed the money on the table next to the couch. She turned on the news and she nearly fainted.

On the screen was a picture of a car stuck in what must have been a four-foot drift of snow. The anchorman was saying that that was the scenario from last winter when Metro City got struck by a major blizzard. Penny, her Uncle, and her dog Brain, who was in the basement sleeping, were stuck in the house for a week. The anchorman finished his report by saying that that was what we were in for tomorrow morning into the afternoon. 

Penny was startled by a knock at the door. She looked through the peephole and saw the uniform of the Pizza Delivery Man. She opened the door up and took her pizza and soda. She retrieved the money from the table and gave it to the man. She closed the door as he left.

Penny ate the pizza in silence as the details of the upcoming storm were read. The warm air that affected the region today was thought to stay in place, but the storm was too powerful and would dislodge it and replace it with cold air. That spelled out a blizzard with winds up to seventy M.P.H. and snowfall in the three to four foot range. Her Uncle would be in the rain area, down near Los Angeles, but Metro City was right within the bullseye of the heaviest snow totals and the strongest winds.

By the time Penny had finished eating, the news had ended and the sitcoms had begun. Penny took her plate and glass into the kitchen and let the Gadget Dishwasher take care of it. She then wrapped up what was left of the pizza and put that in the refrigerator. 

Instead of watching TV, she decided to prepare the house. She made sure that they had plenty of chopped wood near the wood stove in case the electricity failed. She then made sure all the windows in the house were closed. She had opened quite a few due to the warm temperatures that day. Finally, she got her snow gear out in case she had to leave the house suddenly for some reason. She had to be prepared. 

By chance she happened to look out the window in her room while getting her snow gear. Fat, white snowflakes were falling gently from the sky. The wind was getting gusty. Penny went downstairs and turned off all the lights except a few near the windows. She picked up some food and drinks and her schoolbag and brought all of them into her room and shut and locked the door. She put the food in her mini fridge and threw her school bag in the corner. She flipped on THE WEATHER CHANNEL(r) on the TV in her room. All that was being talked about was the awaited "BLIZZARD OF THE CENTURY". The time was 8:30.

Outside the Gadget household, the snowflakes were getting bigger, the wind was getting stronger, and the temperatures were getting colder.

Inside the Gadget Household, Penny was getting sleepier and sleepier. 

"I think I'm gonna go to sleep now," she said as she yawned. "I'll go get Brain and then in to bed I go."

True to her word, Penny went into the Cellar to get Brain. Brain seemed to be very tired as well, but came obligingly to Penny's call. He padded up stairs with her and followed her into her room. As Penny shut the door he made himself comfortable at the foot of the bed. 

Penny went to her dresser and picked out her light blue nightgown. She went into the bathroom and put it on. She undid her hair and put her dirty clothes down the laundry chute. Lastly, she took off her sneakers, but kept her socks on. It was going to be a cold night. She came out of the bathroom and shut of the TV.

As she got into bed, a violent wind shook the house. Penny shuddered as she turned off her light. She was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. The time was 10:30.

About twenty miles from the Gadget household, a strong wind gust felled a giant oak tree. The tree landed on a transformer covered in snow. Power service was interrupted for thousands of customers.

Within the Gadget house, the whir of the Gadget Dishwasher and the hum of the refrigerator ceased. All the faces of the digital clocks went blank and the electric heat shut off. Penny shivered but her sleep remained undisturbed. Brain woke up as the same wind hit the Gadget house, but fell back to sleep as the wind calmed for the moment. The time on Penny's digital watch, which she still had on, was 12:49 A.M.

Penny woke up shivering and cold to a winter wonderland. She could hardly see out the window as the snow was coming down so fast. The winds rocked the house and the glass on the windowpanes would rattle intermittently. 

Penny got up slowly and quietly, so she would not wake up the still sleeping Brain. She put on her slippers and advanced to her door. She noticed her alarm clock was blank, and figured the power was out. She left her room and went downstairs.

She decided she had to start a fire in the wood stove. She went downstairs into the cellar, which was abnormally cold. On the way down she checked the thermometer, which read 25º F. Penny found the stack of wood and opened the door to the wood stove. Into the stove she put in three logs, some kindling wood and a few old newspapers she found upstairs. She used her laser from her digital watch to start the fire and soon she had a roaring blaze going. She went back upstairs and saw Brain staring at the cabinet. He was obviously hungry. Penny left the door to the cellar open to let the warm air circulate.

The next thing Penny did was give Brain some water and food. She used the manual can opener to open the can of ALPO(r) and put some into his dish. She turned on the water faucet next but nothing came out. The pipes were frozen. She'd have to use the bottled spring water Uncle had picked up before the trip. As she poured it into Brain's water bowl, she noticed little pieces of ice in the water. 

She decided to have some cereal before the milk froze. She poured herself a bowl of COUNT CHOCULA(c) Cereal and poured the freezing cold milk onto it. With a spoon she ate it quickly. 

While Brain was still eating, she went upstairs. Her room had warmed up considerably, but it was still rather cool. Looking out the window, she noticed conditions had worsened. The wind had picked up markedly and she guessed the snow was falling at about seven inches per hour, which was amazing. Penny rummaged through her drawers and found a pair of blue jeans and a blue long sleeve shirt. She slipped off her nightgown and quickly put the outfit on. Penny checked her watch. The time was 10:57.

Three hours later, the snow was still coming down harder than ever. Penny had found a battery operated radio and was listening to it while she played with Brain.

"Top wind gusts have reached over 110 M.P.H. and snowfall depths have been reported up to three and a half feet. Some drifts are over seven feet high. Power is estimated to be out for over 500,000 residents. All schools in Metro City are cancelled today and tomorrow. More on the "BLIZZARD OF THE CENTURY" after this report," the radio announcer reported. 

It was then that all hell broke loose. Penny heard a loud crashing sound from outside. Brain sat straight up on his hind legs. Penny went upstairs to her walk-in closet and got her woolen parka and her snow boots. She went downstairs and put them on. Then she got her gloves and her hat from the hall closet and put those on. She made sure she had her key and opened the front door.

Immediately, she had the air completely knocked out of her by the strong wind. Snow swirled around her face, blinding her. She shut the door and made her way slowly around the house, with the exterior of her home as her guide. 

It wasn't long before she discovered the source of the incredible bang. All the lawn furniture that Uncle had brought out on the back porch to sit on when the weather was warm had blown into the large shed at the back of the property. Metal crashing against wood and glass created the noise. 

Penny had to be very careful now. She knew very close to her was a steep hill that led to the pool area. The hill was so steep; Uncle had had a staircase put in to make it easier to navigate. Penny took each step excruciatingly slow, making each heel touch the tips of the toes of the step before it. 

She had come about three yards when she estimated that she had to leave the relative safety of the shadow of the house to find the staircase down the hill. She had to let the patio furniture free before it uprooted the whole shed. Penny took one step away from the house and realized she put it on air.

"Ohhh!" she cried as she plummeted about seven feet straight down into a four foot drift of snow.

Meanwhile, Brain had been waiting for Penny in the front hallway. When he heard her scream, Brain new what he had to do. He opened the door and went to search for his owner.

Slowly, Penny saw the light. She had been out cold in 20º F temperatures for five minutes while Brain was looking for her. Her body was racked with pain and she could see several bruises on her arms where her jacket sleeves had been pushed up. As she tried to sit up, a good inch coating of now rolled off her body. 

"That means," she thought, "that it must be snowing at least eight inches per hour. Woah...."

Soon her thoughts went back to her situation, though. She had to find away to get back to the house and, more importantly, back in. She checked her pocket and found no key. She could only hope that Brain would hear her frantic knocking.

Brain was having a rough time. He could see nothing in front of him except white, and the snow was stinging his eyes. He had only his sense of smell to go on. He could smell Penny's scent. She was nearby...he just knew it.

In reality, Brain couldn't have been farther from Penny. He had taken the opposite direction to the more gradual downhill to the backyard. Penny did not know this, however, and was lying on her back staring at the snow, which was making her vision blurry. Her body ached so much that the slightest move hurt. Getting on her back caused her more pain than she could remember. 

The storm seemed to have abated some as she stared at the sky trying to decide what to do. She could barely walk, yet, to survive, she had to not only walk through three feet of snow in a driving wind, but open a door that was probably locked. 

.Finally, Penny decided it was do or die. She knew she could not stay out in the cold too much longer with out suffering some severe long term consequences. She slowly got up, and, by a stroke of luck, was looking at what she knew was the staircase. She made her feet move the distance to the first stair, and started the long, arduous climb. 

One tortuous stair after another, after another after another. Finally, victory: she had reached the top. She put her hand in her pocket to pull out some change. She thought she could throw the change and hit the house. By judging how loud the sound was, she thought she could guide her way to the house. Instead of a quarter or dime, she pulled out an old sunglass lens. Eureka! She put it over her right eye and the world seemed so much clearer.

The house was barely visible to her, but that was a million times better than she could see it a few moments ago. She walked clumsily toward it, stopping every few minutes to steady herself at the ever powerful wind. After what seemed an eternity, she reached her goal: the house. Clenching her fist, she rose her arm to the sky in triumph. 

Slowly but surely she made her way to the front porch, where she discovered the door closed and locked. She had no idea at this point her beloved dog was out in the cold searching for her. Consequently, Penny pounded on the door like her life depended on it, which of course it did. When no one answered, she became worried.

"Where is Brain??" she wondered, very much concerned. "Brain!! Brai-ain! Oh, where is he?" she cried aloud.

A forlorn barking came through over the whistling wind. Penny knew in an instant that it was Brain. 

"Brain!!" she called, on the verge of crying.

Brain heard Penny's cry, and did his best to bark back. He was freezing cold, and his fur was not doing a good job insulating. As Penny cried again, Brain got a fix on her voice. He knew he had to make it to her, and forced his body to go the extra mile to make it back. He saw Penny in the distance. She almost seemed to glow in his eyes as he strained every last muscle in his sinewy frame. As he finally reached her, he collapsed in her arms as tears of joy ran down her face.

As Brain collapsed in Penny's arms, Penny fell back into the door with such force that the door sprang open. Penny fell on her back onto the tile floor of the front hall. This made the pain course through her body again. Brain got off of Penny and walked very slowly down the cellar stairs and sat down in front of the still blazing fire in the wood stove. He could not have been happier. Meanwhile Penny went to the medicine cabinet, took two TYLENOL(c) and went back into the TV room. She pulled a blanket over her as she lied on the couch. She fell asleep, and didn't wake up for a very long time.

"Penny wake up! Penny wake up!" said Inspector Gadget.

"Yes, Penny. Do what the Honorable Inspector says. Get up!," repeated the Corporal Capeman.

Penny groggily awoke. She saw her Uncle, Capeman, Brain, and Chief Quimby, her Uncle's boss, standing over her.

"You gave us a scare Penny. We thought you might be dead!" said Gadget.

"Yes, Penny. You've been out for over a week now. The snow has stopped and it's almost all melted," said Quimby.

"Well, I...I...I...," stuttered Penny, but for some reason she could not complete her sentence.

"Well what, Penny?" asked Gadget.

"Yeah, what?" reiterated Capeman.

"Go on Penny...what??!?!" said all three men.

"I...I...I...don't...know! I DON'T KNOW!!!!!!!!" screamed Penny as she awoke with a start.

She lifted her head from the pillow quickly but the pain forced her to put it back down.

"I must have a mild concussion," she thought.

She looked outside, and the snow had stopped. It was still cloudy, but the wind was still gusting. She noticed another thing: the light above her was on. Power was back. She looked at her watch. It said 5:00 P.M. on Friday.

"Woah! I've been out for three days!!" she thought in amazement. As she was thinking that, Brain padded around the corner. The Gadget Dog Feeder had taken care of his food, but Penny remembered with a shock that they had no running water, and the Gadget Dog Feeder wouldn't be able to pump it from the pipes. Her fears were misplaced, she figured out in the next seconds, as she heard the faucet running in the kitchen.

"Gosh! I must have forgotten to turn it off. I wonder how much water has been wasted!" she thought.

"Brain! Go turn the water faucet off," she told Brain, who obeyed immediately. As she did this, she turned to face Brain. Now, she noticed the blinking light on the phone. "Messages," she thought.

Pressing the button, she heard her Uncle's voice:

"Hi, Penny. I guess you're having fun with the blizzard. We got a ton of rain down here, but the news reports are saying you got a ton of snow. Oh well, I missed this one. Anyway, the blizzard is gonna prevent me from getting home for a few days. There's plenty to eat, and I'm sure school will be cancelled. Have fun, and Capeman says 'hi!'. My number down here is 1-908-333-5237, and I'm in room number 4562. Bye!"

The phone beeped as the message finished playing. 

(c) 1998 PentaPublishing; ALL RIGHTS RESERVED


End file.
